Women’s boxer identifying as a man calls for transgender Olympians to be banned
Paris: A female boxer who identifies as a trans man has called for athletes who have previously failed testosterone and gender-eligibility tests to be banned from competing in the women’s events at the Olympics.
Philippines fighter Hergie Bacyadan, who was bundled out of the Paris Olympics on Wednesday afternoon, created a stir on the eve of the bout after an Instagram post, declaring: “I still consider myself as a trans-man because my heart says so”.
Boxer Hergie Bacyadan from the Philippines, who identifies as a trans man.Credit: Instagram
Despite identifying as a male, the 29-year-old competed in the women’s 75kg division and was knocked out by China’s Li Qian.
When Philippines coaches were asked after the bout to clarify the issue of Bacyadan’s gender, they said: “She was born a female and is a female.”
Bacyadan, speaking with the assistance of a translator, identifies as a man outside the boxing ring, despite not having transitioned.
The boxer also believed that athletes born with XY chromosomes should be allowed to spar against female boxers but insisted they should not be allowed to compete in the women’s competition.
Transgender women athletes who have transitioned after going through male puberty are different from athletes defined as having “differences in sexual development” (DSD), which can include hormonal, chromosomal or reproductive differences.
In the context of the Olympics, DSD covers athletes who were assigned a female gender at birth, but have naturally occurring testosterone levels high enough to suggest internal sexual characteristics that are not typically male or female.
The International Olympic Committee has paved the way for two boxers who previously failed gender eligibility tests to fight in Paris.
Algeria’s Imane Khelif was recently disqualified from the 2023 women’s world championships after tests showed high testosterone readings, while Chinese Lin Yu-ting was subsequently stripped of the bronze medal.
Neither has publicly identified as transgender, and the International Boxing Association has not revealed details of the tests it conducted.
Imane Khelif of Algeria is competing at the Olympics on Thursday.Credit: Instagram
Khelif will fight for the first time in Paris on Thursday and a victory could set up a showdown with Australia’s Marissa Williamson in the quarter-finals.
Australian captain Caitlin Parker, who progressed to the quarter-finals with a victory over Mexico’s Citlalli Vanessa Ortiz in the women’s 75kg on Wednesday, said XY-chromosome fighters should not be allowed to compete.
“I don’t agree with them being allowed to compete in sport, especially combat sports,” Parker said.
“It can be incredibly dangerous. I don’t agree with it ... it can be dangerous for combat sports and it should be seriously looked into. It’s good these things are coming out and bringing awareness. It’s being put under the spotlight to be looked into further and studied further.
Lin Yu-ting celebrates winning the Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2023.Credit: Getty
“I really hope the organisations get their act together so that boxing can continue to be at the Olympics. Biologically ... genetically they [XY-chromosome athletes] are going to have more advantages and in combat sports it can be dangerous.”
Williamson lost to Khelif in the final of the Eindhoven Cup in the Netherlands in May but Australia’s head boxing coach Santiago Nieba had no concerns ahead of the potential rematch in Paris, saying the International Olympic Committee had laid out its criteria “so that’s the only thing you can go by”.
“We fought her two months ago,” Nieba said. “She’s good, she’s tough, she’s strong, but I wasn’t under the impression we were fighting a man. We are prepared to fight anyone in front of us here. I understand this issue is not as black and white as many people want to make it.
“We don’t have all the information, so I don’t want to speculate on that. We have competed against them before, we have fought them before. We are ready to do that again and beat them.”
The decision to disqualify the pair from the world championship last year was made by the International Boxing Association following a comprehensive review it claimed was intended to uphold the fairness and integrity of the competition.
The IOC is controlling the boxing competitions at these Olympics, rather than the IBA due to governance and ethical concerns. The IOC has less strict eligibility rules than the boxing authority, which is why the fighters have been allowed to compete at these Games.
“These boxers are entirely eligible, they are women on their passports, they have competed for many years,” IOC spokesperson Mark Adams stated at a press conference.
“I actually think it is not helpful to start stigmatising people who take part in sport like this. They are women who competed in Tokyo.
“I think we all have a responsibility to dial down this and not turn it into some kind of witch-hunt. These are regular athletes who have competed for many years in boxing, they are entirely eligible and they are women on their passports.
“That’s really invidious and unfair. But I would just say that everyone competing in the women’s category is complying with the competition eligibility rules. They are women in their passports and it is stated that is the case.”